[cdemi]

I am having a weird problem when starting the car. So far it has happened these last two times and I am still waiting if it will happen again.

When the car is turned off for a bit of time, for example just before going to work in the morning, the brake pedal is very hard to press (like I have been pumping it when it was off).

Due to this, to start the car, I really have to press hard on the break pedal for it to get detected by the Start button.

After the car starts, but before I move the car, every time I press the break pedal, I hear air flowing (seems like through the ventilation system).

As soon as I move the car and press the break again, it stops.

Is this normal? Or should I take it to the dealer?

Edited by: cdemi

 

[Ythsie]

No doubt in my mind...it's a dealer job...and I would do it sooner than later!!
It needs investigation!!

 

[Tustain]

Am I going mad but I thought you had to depress the clutch to start the engine as I have been doing since day one

 

[hicky]

I was told presseither brake or clutch pedalto start the car. in mine it does????

 

[helart]

Must admit I use the clutch in the megane,and will to from saturday in Captur...and have always started all my cars for last 30 years with the clutch in from the advice years ago of an old mechanic.

 

[Thewhiteball]

I've certainly allways started deisel engines with the clutch depressed. No different with my Captur.

 

[Ythsie]

Haha....don't have that problem on automatics!!! It's got to be the brake!!!!

Edited by: Ythsie

 

[Julian]

I was going to say that !!!

 

[Ythsie]

What a mind reader!

 

[cdemi]

I press the brake because if you press Start button without pressing anything it says "Press Start + Brake"

 

[Antca7576]

Strange- mine is a manual 1.5 dCI, always tells me brake + start to start the engine, don't touch the clutch. Maybe it's cause I don't leave my car in gear!

 

[helart]

Always leave in gear as we live on a hill..

 

[Frosty]

Initially I had problems with starting but since I have been pressing the brake peddle hard it's started every time first time

 

[plinakos]

The break is hard in case that the car detects some slope due to the uphill assistance system. Could be the case? Do you park your car in an upward slope?

 

[crossbow]

The break is hard in case that the car detects some slope due to the uphill assistance system. Could be the case? Do you park your car in an upward slope?

Plinakos, the Captur does not have an inclinometer, unlike the Espace. The Espace uses the inclinometer to determine the handbrake pressure, but the hill start assist mechanism on the Captur works in a different way.

The "hard brake" syndrome sound to me as a leaky servo mechanism.

It is always best to leave the car in gear and the handbrake off, if the terrain permits. This stops the rear brake staying seized on, a situation that is more prevalent in wet weather when the brake shoes/callipers tend to stick to the drum or disk due to brake dust starting to corrode and setting like glue.

With my previous Renault, a Megane, I always pressed the clutch, not the brake due to using the above technique. Never had a failure using this technique.






Edited by: crossbow

 

[Jaydee001]

I'm pretty sure this is normal, and possibly connected to the StartStop system.

I seem to think the car has an electronic servo pump to maintain servo assistance to the brakes when the engine is off (ie when in start stop mode) I can her a quiet hum from mine when it is in start stop mode even with the heater etc switched off. This seems to leave some residual assistance in the system and the pedal is hard when first started (if the engine has switched off when you came to a stand still before you switched it off if that makes sense). Normally, when you switch the engine on with your foot on the brake pedal it starts to sink when the engine starts. is this what yours is doing?

For example, I also have a Megane with StartStop. When I pull up on my drive it switches off because I am at a standstill, and then I press the Stop button and get out of it. When I get back in my pedal is hard and sinks when I start the engine. I think this is normal. Best to get it checked out at your local dealer to be sure though.

 

[Heligary]

Always dropped the clutch on start up on every car I've owned, old habit from being a car mechnic for 15 years, jumping in and out of different cars testing stuff and the owner has left it in gear, avoids any shunting on the starter motor, also disengages the gearbox from any drag and helps cold start turn overs.

 

[Heligary]

Just checked, yep if the clutch goes down it starts up ok, no clutch it says press brake and start.

 

[HTP99]

What the OP is experiencing is perfectly normal.

The brake pedal will be hard when the engine is off and will go down when the engine starts as the servo will be activated, the air noise when the pedal is pumped is just the brake fluid going round the system.

 

[Tyrfelin]

Get it sorted via dealer!